Blink Images in association with arabianEye and sponsor Hewlett Packard will host an exhibition of Russian photographer Nikolai Ignatiev in aid of the United Nations World Food Programme.
The exhibition at B21 Gallery in Al Quoz, Dubai, will run from February 19 to March 3. Around 30 of the Russian master’s photographs will be on display and 10 copies of each image will be on sale priced at around AED2,000 per copy. Ignatiev’s widow, Juliet Butler, and his brother, Maxim, will attend the exhibition.
Born in 1955 in Moscow, Nikolai Ignatiev was one of the foremost Russian photographers of his generation. His work mainly revolves around the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East.
Ignatiev was an army conscript in Afghanistan and narrowly escaped execution after attempting to defect to the West in 1979. He was sent to a mental asylum in Moscow but was released after two months.
Ignatiev’s Afghanisation experiences inspired him to take up photography and future Magnum photographer Georgii Pinkhassov became his mentor. Ignatiev’s work found an audience in American news magazines, and his ability to capture the seismic changes of the glasnost era put him in massive demand with Western editors.
Life magazine published Ignatiev’s first major photo essay in 1986 themed on the Russian Orthodox Church. He also pursued his own assignments, notably his black-and-white documentary of the remote Velikaya River pilgrimage.
Marriage to foreigners was unheard of in Russia during the Cold War, but Ignatiev wed his English girlfriend Juliet Butler, an English teacher, in 1983 and so underlined his status as a maverick.
In 2001, Nikolai and Juliet Ignatiev and their three children relocated to London, but Ignatiev made frequent visits on assignment to Russia and worked further a field in China, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ignatiev died of cancer in 2004 and ‘Painting with Light’ was the last publication of his powerful work. Ignatiev was buried in Vangankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.
Up to 10 copies of each photograph, priced at AED1,950 (US$534), will be sold during the exhibition hosted by Blink Images at B21 Gallery from February 19 to March 3. Proceeds will go to the United Nations World Food Programme.
Blink Images represents a collection of world-class international image libraries including the world’s largest collection of Middle East stock photography, arabianEye.
Blink Images Director Celia Peterson said: “Ignatiev survived war, prison and a mental asylum to deliver photography that defines an era. Great photography is all about passion, and you can’t find a better example of the passion to succeed than the life story of Nikolai Ignatiev.”
About Blink Images:
Blink Images was founded in Dubai Media City by Celia Peterson. Blink Images represents a number of world-class image libraries including arabianEye.com, the largest collection of Middle Eastern stock images in the world. Blink Images also represents a number of the best photojournalists and commercial photographers in the Middle East and worldwide. For further information about Blink Images, visit www.blinkimages.net and www.arabianEye.com.
About the UN World Food Programme
WFP’s innovative food aid projects not only put food on the tables of the weakest and poorest. They also help the hungry to secure food and income for themselves, so they can break out of the poverty trap and secure a sustainable future. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency: each year, it gives food to an average of 90 million poor people, including 58 million children, in at least 80 of the world’s poorest countries.
